Michael Baden

Michael Baden Portrait (https://drmichaelbaden.com/ (Image Courtesy of HBO ())

When I first thought about whom I wanted my hero to be, I didn't have anyone in mind. When I think of a hero, I automatically think of someone famous because that is how our society is nowadays. They show many people on the news and make shows about them even if they didn't do anything that helped our world. But now I realized to be a hero, you don't have to famous. So I searched online for my preferred career of forensic pathologist and discovered one of the best, Michael Baden. I love this career because I like to solve hard problems in situations. I am a freshman at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, California in a college and career planning class looking to find my dream job. I would like to become a successful forensic pathologist by getting a bachelor's degree and then completing medical school.

To be a forensic pathologist, you need to be not afraid of the sight of blood and not get disturbed by dead bodies. According to the Explore Health Careers website, you would need to earn a bachelor's degree, and a medical degree. Additional training in pathology is also required. Once you have completed everything, you have to pass an exam so you can become board certified. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of 2015 that the median wage for a forensic pathologist is $54,230. However the top percent of people earn about $89,440. A similar career is a forensic scientist. This involves of collecting and analyzing the evidence instead of looking at the dead body to see what caused the death.

Baden performing an autopsy (http://www.spike.com/video-clips/11bqpk/autopsy-an ())

Michael Baden was born in 1934 in New York City. He graduated in 1959 from City College of New York. He also got a Doctor of Medicine degree from New York University School of Medicine. On the website Crime Museum it states that one of Baden's first job was in New York in the office of Chief Medical Examiner. He left this job in 1979 to become a deputy in Suffolk County. Then he also worked for the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. His most famous murder investigations were those of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. To this day, Baden continues to work with the New York police as a co-director in the medico legal investigation area.

Michael Baden is very helpful in our society .Caring for others is his priority, not just his own success. In the "24 armed robbers killed" article in the New York Magazine published in 1972, it mentions that he believes that people should start paying attention to suicides and homicides instead of only focusing on cancer cures. "Society has given almost all of its attention to the prevention and the cure of natural diseases such as cancer and heart disease. We must pay more attention to unnatural deaths many of which are preventable: Suicide, homicide, auto accidents, drug addictions." Baden is trying to say that while we are trying so hard to find cures for complicated cancers, we should also be finding a way to stop people from killing each other or themselves. With Baden's work he wants to find solutions to problems that can help out our society.

Throughout my high school years I plan to take science all four years and possibly even extra classes in the summer. I'm going to also take four years of English because I need to know how to write up written reports when I need to. I plan on going to UCLA and taking a forensic and law enforcement program. I want to become a successful forensic pathologist and am motivated to study extra hard to get my degrees. Michael Baden, the famous forensic pathologist, will always be my hero.